In a
tomb recently opened at Canterbury Cathedral, a for the purpose
of discovering what Archbishop's body it contained, the corpse
was of an extremely offensive and sickening odor, unmistakably
that of putrefaction. The body was that of Hubert Walter, who
died in 1204 A.D., and the decomposition had been retarded, and
was actually still in progress, several hundred years after
burial.
Retardation of the putrefactive process has been noticed in
bodies some years under water. Konig of Hermannstadt mentions a
man who, forty years previous to the time of report, had fallen
under the waters of Echoschacht, and who was found in a complete
state of preservation.
Postmortem Growth of Hair and Nails.--The hair and beard may grow
after death, and even change color. Bartholinus recalls a case of
a man who had short, black hair and beard at the time of
interment, but who, some time after death, was found to possess
long and yellowish hair. Aristotle discusses postmortem growth of
the hair, and Garmanus cites an instance in which the beard and
hair were cut several times from the cadaver. We occasionally see
evidences of this in the dissecting-rooms. Caldwell mentions a
body buried four years, the hair from which protruded at the
points where the joints of the coffin had given away.
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